TUPELO - A series of events tonight through Monday will honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in conjunction with the King national holiday.

Tupelo's annual King commemoration kicks off tonight at the Civic Auditorium with a youth-focused "Apollo Night," featuring drill team exhibitions as well as praise team and drama presentations.

On Saturday night, a black-tie banquet at St. Paul United Methodist Christian Life Center at 7 p.m. will feature guest speaker Rose Flenorl with Jennifer Watson as emcee. Jim Waide will receive the Mississippi Community Service Award. Tickets are $20 per person; for ticket information, contact Linda Blackmon at (662) 255-4069.

The Sunday commemorative service will be at 2:30 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium. The Rev. Jeffery Daniels will be emcee and Congressman Alan Nunnelee the featured speaker. The annual Drum Major Award will be presented to Henry Cobb.

On Monday, the official holiday, a motorcade will leave the VF Mall at 11 a.m. and travel to the St. Paul Christian Life Center for a noon birthday celebration sponsored by Modern Beauticians that will include entertainment and scholarship award presentations. The Rev. Bartholomew Orr is guest speaker.

All events except the black-tie dinner are free and open to the public.

CORINTH EVENTS

Corinth also will celebrate the Martin Luther King holiday. Project Attention in Corinth is reuniting members of the 76 Voices singing group that made the 2004 celebration memorable.

At the 5 p.m. Saturday event, Project Attention Director Shirley Rolland said there will be members "then" and "now" to bridge the generations.

The central focus of the program will be three essay winners who wrote on the theme "I Am A Promise, I Am A Possibility."

As in years past, a free meal for the community following the program is the group's way of saying "thank you for what you have done for us," Rolland said.